The Importance of Processes in Successful Companies
Every successful company has one thing in common: at least one successful process. In business, a process refers to a series of steps or actions taken to achieve a particular end. The law of supply and demand dictates that no one will pay you if everyone can duplicate what you do. Even when the cheapest process produces the most straightforward products, a modified process will always put one company ahead of another.
Processes are a company's DNA. By understanding and improving a process, you're enhancing the company's health and paving the way for potential growth and success. On the flip side, damaging a process can introduce issues akin to cancer in the organization. Introducing something new into a process risks triggering significant change, positive or negative. It is vitally important to understand the impact of any process change, as it can either be a catalyst for progress or a stumbling block.
The Company is a Complex Machine
Consider this analogy: a company's operations are like a modern automobile. To most owners, a car is a functional entity with components like tires, seats, steering wheel, and levers. Similarly, a company has tasks, flow, and systems. Just as a car has lights, gauges, and warning indicators to ensure safe operation, a company has performance indicators, feedback systems, and quality control measures.
However, to a mechanic, a car is a complex play of interconnected systems. The engines, gears, clutches, computers, and electrical connectors must work in a coordinated flow. Just as one can replace an old car's engine with one from a different manufacturer, you can also replace an old process by introducing new processes into a company. But also, like tuning a car's engine is no longer just a simple carburetor adjustment but involves modifying computer ratios based on airflow and oxygen sensors, introducing a new process into a business is an even more complex endeavor requiring care and expertise.
As complicated as modern vehicles are, businesses are even more intricate. Just as a mechanic carefully applies torque to each bolt, the tuning of processes in a business deserves the same respect. Each process, like a bolt, plays a crucial role in the company's overall functioning, and understanding this complexity is key to successful management.
Guidelines for Process Changes
- Learn your processes: Understand your processes thoroughly, not just from those who perform them but from expert mechanics with a systematic process for discovering and documenting processes. This systematic approach involves gathering data, analyzing it, and identifying areas for improvement. This discovery is your 'WHAT ', the first step in your process improvement journey.
- Understand the "WHY": Ask why a process exists. If the reason holds no value for your company, does it have value for other processes? Is this WHAT the reason you have customers? When faced with a new system created by the manufacturer, the best mechanics try to understand why the manufacturer designed it that way.
- Determine the "HOW": Many companies want to skip the first two steps and jump to implementing trendy solutions like AI. But AI may not cure your specific problems. Sometimes, the solution becomes removing technology or simplifying processes.
While there are other questions to consider, these high-level guidelines provide a starting foundation. Processes should only be modified after these three aspects are thoroughly documented and agreed upon. Treating process changes carefully, like an experienced mechanic working on a complex machine, is crucial for successful corporate improvements.
A good mechanic
To ensure success, you should contact external experts (mechanics) to lead any process changes in process and change management. The experts will give the company confidence via their expertise and ability to document reality. These experts can foster agreement on the what, why, and how will also give the company confidence. It will provide confidence that process changes are accurate for corporate objectives. Plus, by this act alone, explaining your team's process to a stranger can bring clarity to process interaction.
The ONE successful process
So, what is THE process for the most successful companies? Well, it is the process of documenting, understanding, and enhancing their processes via good external mechanics, or in other words, process improvement consultants, who know how to tune the engine. These experts bring in their experience, knowledge, and a fresh perspective to help companies identify and implement the most effective process changes. Companies that consistently make effective process changes are the top-performing companies in their sector.